Baby Safe Haven Testimonials

Baby Molly

This is Molly. She was born in Central Park to a desperate mother who couldn't reveal her pregnancy to her family. She relinquished Molly
anonymously to the safe-haven program in New York where today she lives happily with her adoptive family.

Baby Matthew

We are the parents of the first safely abandoned baby in Illinois under this law. The law made possible by "The Save Abandoned Babies
Foundation." We always have a difficult time finding the words to express the tremendous, loving efforts your organization went to and
is still going to for this law.

Matthew is the absolute light of our lives. He is a happy healthy and very energetic little boy. I am so glad your organization made
it possible for his birthmother to make this very loving, unselfish decision under the law.

All we can say is thank you to everyone involved with your organization, the law, and our son's birthmother, all of you hold a very
special place in our hearts.

It is truly a joy to have Matthew call us Mommy and Daddy, which without your organization's hard, exhausting work for this law
would not have been possible.

Baby Angel

Recently I was driving and heard a news blurb about abandoned babies in Illinois. Nineteen had been safely abandoned under the new law, and it
nearly didn't register. Then it struck me one of the nineteen was safely buckled in the carseat behind me. Our little one was made possible by
the efforts of your group, the state law that made his safe abandonment possible, and the mother that cared enough for herself and her child to
have a healthy pregnancy.

Our child is very healthy, happy, and above all loved. The safe haven law provided a happy ending to the story of our child's birth, and we
consider it to be a wonderful beginning for a life filled with so much promise. From our child, his new grandparents, aunts, uncles, extended
family, church family, his new mother, and myself… Thank you with the deepest gratitude for all your efforts and encouragement to continue your
work.

Baby Samantha

This is Samantha, who is Indiana's first safe-haven baby. Her adoptive parents report that this happy, precocious child is as fond of music and
singing as she is of batter. Apparently so.

Baby Zoë

My name is Zoë, and this is my story…My story began sometime in 2004 when my birth mom became pregnant. Many mommies rejoice at the news of a pregnancy.
Mine didn't. I don't know all the reasons, but I do know that she had at least one other child and wasn't in a position to have another one.

As her pregnancy advanced, my birth mom knew that she could not keep me. She was scared and hungry, and began to think through her choices. She could
have tried to raise me. She could have had an abortion. She could have set me out on the street after I was born.

This is where all of you become a part of my story. Because of you, she had another choice. Because of you and your efforts, the Safe Haven Law
existed – and my birth mom knew about it.

She made a courageous and loving decision. She birthed me at home. Then she dressed me in a size 6 diaper and carried me safely in her arms to the
hospital emergency room.

She handed me to a police officer and said: "I can't do this. I can't take care of this baby". She told the officer when I was born.
Then she took her other son and left.

First the doctor examined me and certified me healthy – and hungry! The hospital staff found me a tee shirt and a blanket and best of all, formula!
And while all this happened, the phone calls began. The hospital notified the Department of Children and Family Services. DCFS called the adoption
agency. The agency called my forever family – and completed their family. Less than 10 hours elapsed from the time that my birth mom brought me to
safety at the hospital and my adoptive family wrapped their arms around me. My future is bright!

THANK YOU for all your hard work on the Safe Haven Law. Your work saved my life, gave me a future, gave my birth mom peace, and brought my adoptive family great joy

Baby Austin

As legislators applied finishing touches to Indiana's new Safe Haven laws in 2000, Brian and Eden Gildea could have hardly imagined how the landmark
legislation would profoundly change their lives. The couple was preparing for a move from Indianapolis to Elkhart to take new jobs, and after nine
years of trying unsuccessfully to have a biological baby, a call came in 2005 inquiring if the Gildeas would accept a baby recently handed over
anonymously and safely thanks to Safe Haven legislation.

Today, Austin Gildea is three years old and the Gildeas support more awareness and better education for the Safe Haven alternative.
The Gildeas welcome media inquiries about their experience.